


Remember the Spring

by MaryDragon



Series: Trouble the Water [2]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: 100 Years, Don't Worry There's a Part Three, During Canon, Ends at End of Game, F/M, Game Spoilers, I Can't Do This To You, POV Female Character, POV First Person, POV Zelda, Unresolved Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:58:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10802235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaryDragon/pseuds/MaryDragon
Summary: A continuation from Calm Waters Run Deep.What was Zelda doing for one hundred years?Ends with "May I ask... Do you really remember me?" No, really, I end it there. BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE DON'T GET ALL THE MEMORIES IN GAME AND THE ANSWER IS NO. LIKE MY HUSBAND. THE MONSTER. YOU  MADE ZELDA CRY, BRIAN. I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY.(ahem)You don't HAVE to read Calm Waters Run Deep for this, but you'll miss out on some context and flavor if you haven't read part 1.10K One-shot. Tagged Characters have speaking parts. Arguably.





	Remember the Spring

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [Souviens-Toi de la Source](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12512892) by [Twilys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Twilys/pseuds/Twilys)



> When you drink the water, remember the spring.

I had been floating in silence for what might have been eons. The darkness raged and burned around me, but I was the Chosen of Nayru and it touched me not. The Malice reached out towards the people of Hyrule, scattered to the farthest reaches of the realm, but I was the Descendent of Hylia, and I chained him to my Sanctum in Hyrule Castle and my people were beyond his grasp.

My commune with Hylia was silent. There were no words to exchange because She had been with me all along. She _was_ me. Bits of her mortal form had passed, intact, from mother to daughter across the ages, so that the fabric of my being was woven by Her hand.

I floated in silence, in the darkness, and simply Was. And for a time, that was enough.

Somewhere in the darkness, my prayer formed words.

The words were unintentional, at first. I looked at the Chosen of Farore where he slept, and I wished for him to awaken, whole. I wished for any sign that the person within the Shrine of Resurrection was cognizant of this world, of his fight, of the woman who had been his partner.

 _Open your eyes_ , I bid him, but he slept on.

The years known as the Age of Burning Fields ended. The Guardians slowly lost power and, one by one, slept. Some of them were reclaimed by the earth they walked upon, while others merely powered down to rest. The Four Divine Beasts settled back into slumber, the spirits of their pilots trapped within.

They tried to speak with me, at first, but I begged them to keep their strength in reserve.

 _Our time is coming,_ I promised. _You will be free. Be steadfast_.

They heeded my words to varying degrees, but all of them settled in to preserve what strength they could. Their gifts could still be useful. Their lives need not have been given in vain.

 _Open your eyes,_ I implored, but still he slept on.

Six generations of Rito elders lived and died. Four generations of Gorons mined the mountains of Eldin. Only three Sheikah lived to remember, but the story of the sacrifice at Fort Hateno birthed a legend.

 _Open your eyes_. But still he slept on.

The Gerudo Chief closed her eyes for the last time, and her spirit lingered for awhile with me, before I gave her the peace she needed to move on. Only the Zora people were left to remember, and their memories were tarnished with bitter regret.

 _Open your eyes_ , I asked of him. But still, he slept on.

The spring bloomed bright over a land largely abandoned by men, marking the beginning of a second century since the Kingdom of Hyrule had fallen. But on the third day of the season, the cover of the casement where his body lie gently turned and then lifted, exposing him to the cool air of the cave.

 _Open your eyes_ , I instructed him.

He opened his eyes.

 _Wake up, Link_.

 ** _No,_** the darkness around me boiled as the word was spat at me. **_No, this cannot be. He was slain, slain! We watched him fall, the sword lies dormant_**.

Hylia was silent in the face of Malice, but Zelda? Zelda remembered, and the mortal within the prison stirred to life. _Oh, is somebody having a bad day?_ The Beast flew into a rage again, and I was free to turn my gaze back to the Shrine near to the Temple of Time.

The liquid had drained out of the basin, and he sat up in it, looking around warily. It was not the feral look I had seen on the few occasions I had woken him, back when we both walked the world, but I could not despair. It had been a long time, and many things had been forgotten; some of them might be for the best.

Link pushed himself out of the basin that had housed his body for a century, and dropped to the floor of the shrine.

The sound of his feet touching the surface of Hyrule was deafening to me; I, who had embodied the spirit of the realm for one hundred years. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, seeking balance, and jogged over to the Guidance Stone that had overseen his resurrection.

I had not heard his footsteps in so long, but they were the same-

 _they were the same_.

The sound of them was like coming home. The part of me that was purely Zelda flared to life, taking precedence over Hylia for the first time in a century.

The Guidance stone ejected my Sheikah slate as soon as Link touched the pedestal, but he regarded the slate with suspicion. He didn’t recognize it, and I lost another measure of hope. He could walk, he could _run_ , he could see and touch and interact with his environment. He had retained his motor function; ultimately that would be more important than his memory. He could make new memories.

Hyrule had to be more important than his memory of me.

 _That is a Sheikah Slate_ , I informed him, laughing lightly at the inanity of the name. _Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber_.

He tilted his head, as if unsure of where my voice was coming from, and the expression on his face was so familiar as to be devastating. It was him, _it was him_ , and yet without the memory of the experiences that had shaped him, it wasn’t him at all.

After a moment, he reached out and took the Slate, and I felt my first small victory in ages. He trusted my voice! The Slate coming free deactivated the lock on the door, and the gates slid open. The air had to be stale; I watched the wind swirl back and forth across the doorway and throw Link’s hair around. He simply jogged through the open door, the rhythm of his footsteps music to my ears.

 ** _This, then, was the source of your power? You have held on all these years, fool mortal, thinking to resurrect Farore’s Champion? When my armies have cut him down – again! – I will have his corpse torn into pieces and brought here to molder at your feet. Then I will break you and win back my freedom_**.

It was the first threat he’d made in all these years of our entrapment that I felt any trepidation at. Link was unarmored, unarmed, alone. He was horribly vulnerable, and with no memory...? He might not realize he was at risk until it was far too late.

Link was, at that moment, diligently breaking barrels looking for supplies, which was unspeakably funny to me. He’d been awake all of three minutes and already committed to property damage. Granted, the barrels had been left there with supplies for his awakening, but after 100 years they were mostly fallen apart. He had found some moth-eaten clothing – was that Robbie’s? – and was wearing more than just his undershorts, which was something.

He jogged out to the next door, right up to the next pedestal, and cocked his head, as if waiting for me to guide him further.

My heart, this man.

 _Hold the Sheikah slate up to the pedestal,_ I coached, letting the smile into my voice. _That will show you the way_.

Not me, my love. The Slate must show you; not me. I must remain silent once you are out in the world, else Pig Face the Smoke Monster and his stink minions find and kill you the first time you consent to sleep.

He nodded – nodded to the voice in his head! bless him! – and tapped the slate to the pedestal without hesitating. He’d seen me do it a hundred times, even if he didn’t recall, even if it had never worked. The pedestal flared blue and the gates to the Shrine unsealed and ponderously rose into the ceiling of the cave.

Link stood in the doorway and shielded his eyes from the daylight streaming down from the entrance to the cave. I could almost feel the warmth on his skin, after a century underwater, in the dark.

 _Link_... I reached out to him as strongly as I could, throwing caution to the wind. _You are the light-_  and he was; he was the source of the light that I could use to bind the darkness, but he was the only light in my life as well, oh if I could only tell him - _our light – that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now, go._

The light on his face faded and I realized it had been me, beaming down on to his precise location.

 ** _No._** Ganon didn’t seem to have much more to say before falling into another rage, but after a moment I realized he hadn’t known precisely where Link was until I’d stupidly illuminated him. I did a quick survey of the Great Plateau and found only a handful of bokoblins.

 _Oh, poor foolish pig demon, did you overlook something? Goodness, it will take forever to get any of your stronger monsters up there to deal with him_.

Link, heedless of The Beast screeching in my ear, nodded again at my words to him and then broke into an easy jog. The blackness around me bobbed and shook as the very land itself reacted to the footsteps of this giant among men, this legend become life.

My Link. My Hero.

There was a boulder blocking the stairs, but he leapt onto it and scaled it nimbly. It wasn’t as quick as I had seen him climb, before the Calamity, and a thin veneer of sweat beaded his brow when he reached the top, but he continued out of the cave at the same ground-eating jog.

Ganon reached out of our Sanctum for the first time in years and began alerting his goblin folk to Link’s awakening, but I reached out and slapped away his power at the last moment, testing and reinforcing the tether that held him to the center of Hyrule. He could stop me from openly helping Link in the same way, of course. We were two parts of a greater whole, and until the third arrived we would stay as equal forces.

Link ran up to the very edge of the cliff that housed the Shrine of Resurrection, and stood staring at Hyrule Castle. At me. Then he looked east, towards the Temple of Time, and he saw...

...my father. The spirit of my father, in the guise of an old man, waiting for him at the bottom of the hill.

 _No_ , I whispered, aghast, to the darkness. _You didn’t just kill him? You sundered his soul, and trapped him as a spirit?_

**_I..._ **

_You gave Link a guide! Your pride and avarice and ignorance gave your greatest enemy an ally who knows everything! The last king of Hyrule is the Hero’s advisor! This is how you keep getting defeated, you know. You have to be the worst planner, ever_.

 ** _SILENCE,_** he roared, and I laughed.

For the first time in over a hundred years, I laughed. _No wonder you want so badly to steal Wisdom. You have none of your own!_

As Ganon’s burning fury grew, I watched Link swing around a tree branch, as if testing its weight, and I remembered his assertion that he could kill stalfos blindfolded, one handed, in the dark, with a stick, and my laughter only grew. Link jogged down to speak to the spirit of my father – who wisely did not identify himself as such – and then casually stole a baked apple off the fire and ate it.

The apple disappeared quickly, neatly, without a single morsel wasted.

He was my Link. He might not know what he was doing or why, but he was doing everything the way my Link would have. He was in there, somewhere. I just had to get him out...

He bludgeoned a bokoblin to death with the tree branch, as Ganon’s fury continue to rise unabated. I waited for Link to toss aside the broken stick and cast about, seemingly lost, before reaching out once more with my mind.

 _Link_ , I said, having to repeat his name several times before he seemed to focus on me. _Your Sheikah slate will guide you._

He nodded again – bless him! – and pulled out the Slate.

But there were no pictures there, no compendium, nothing that I had left behind for him. I had carefully chosen the images he was to get upon awakening and the option to access them wasn’t there. Instead, he had a map.

I’d never had a map! Something had happened to the Sheikah slate while he slept. How aggravating.

He did as he was told, though. He jogged past several defunct Guardians, and my breath caught in rage and dismay every time I saw their outline.

The map was pointing him to a rock slide not far from the Shrine of Resurrection, and I watched, engrossed, as he dispatched several more bokoblins with a wood cutter’s axe on the way. As he jogged into a rough sort of cave exposed by the rock slide, there was a Guidance stone standing inside.

An active Guidance stone, glowing orange.

Had he stumbled upon the secret we had searched tirelessly for?

The Guidance stone asked for the Sheikah slate, and my good soldier complied.

 _Sheikah Tower Activated_ , the little machine beeped. _Please watch for falling rocks_.

An earthquake shook Hyrule, as a tower on the Great Plateau thrust out of the earth. Then, all over the country side, over a dozen more surged out of ground. I couldn’t help but turn towards the ruins of the old Garrison just north of the Castle, and was pleased to see a tower emerge, right where Robbie had sent me looking for it. As the towers stopped moving, I felt energy surge out of the earth, filling the Shrines, as one by one each of them lit up, the pedestals at their doors activating. The Divine Beasts, too, seemed to drink deeply of the ancient power, and their machinery kicked on for the first time in decades. Even the Guardians began to stir with life once more.

This was the power that had laid dormant in the ground: the power for the Shrines, for all the ancient tech. He’d found it.

If I wasn’t floating in a formless void as the avatar of a Goddess, the apparent serendipity of Link waking up and immediately solving the greatest problem of our age would have made me religious. Instead, I felt a brief pang of bitterness.

If I had gone to the Temple of Time for my seventeenth birthday, instead of the Spring of Wisdom, would everything have turned out differently?

Was it possible to kick my father’s spirit in the shins? Or had he suffered enough?

But, no, we would have only had a single day before Ganon emerged, and instead of Link visiting the Shrines and studying with the spirits within, instead the Guardians and Divine Beasts would have had the power to ravage Hyrule all these years.

...but so, too, would the Shrine of Resurrection have retained power, and it would have been only a matter of days before he returned to us, and not a full century of waiting.

There was nothing to be gained by trying to guess at what might have been. Instead, I watched Link dust himself off and look around, shocked, at this new perspective on Hyrule. He plucked the Sheikah slate out of the Guidance stone with growing grace, and looked around with a nod.

He was in there. He had to be.

 _Remember!_ I cast the thought at him, just stopping short of pleading. He turned, looking directly at the Castle, looking at _me_ , at the light I was expending to catch his notice.

_Try! Try to Remember!_

He jogged toward the edge of the tower, and I realized his footsteps were indistinct; it was only when he was upon the earth of our beloved Hyrule that he walked as a giant. His eyes were glued to my light – to me! – and I knew I had his undivided attention.

 _You have been asleep for the past one hundred years_ , I told him _._ I wanted to tell him more. I wanted to tell him who he had been, who _I_ had been, but Ganon was there.

 ** _Asleep_?** He demanded. **_Merely asleep?_ _No. No, you would not have subjected yourself to this for a century for mere sleep. He was slain! He was slain, and resurrected, and his soul is whole but his memory gone. He has not the sword, he has not the strength yet to retrieve it. I will slay him and then await his rebirth, and twist his next life to my ends. Or, better, I will turn my power on_ you _, and slay you both when he comes to challenge me_.**

 _The beast_... I said, instead, and Ganon hissed at me. _When the beast regains its true power, this world will face its end._ _Now then... You must hurry, Link. Before it’s too late!_

 ** _That is quite enough of that from you_ ,** Ganon howled, and enveloped me in fire and rage, sundering my words from Link’s mind.

 _He’s not coming for you_ , I replied, immediately wrapping myself in the serenity of the Goddess. _He’s coming for me. He will slay you to free me. He cares not for your power, nor the threat you pose to the world. It is meaningless to him. But already, he heeds me. Already, he seeks me out._

I pressed back against the ancient entity that had once been named Ganon, and knew we were still at deadlock. He could silence me as I could silence him, but his time was limited. He would damage what he could, do his best to slay Link before he could reach the sword, before he even knew to _get_ the sword, but that was his only hope left.

 _And when he comes for me, I will pin you to the earth like a lamb to slaughter, and he will bring that sword upon your neck as he has time and time again. Once you are stricken from your material form, I will seal you in the void again, for you to rage against the darkness alone for another ten thousand years. When you are again denied the light of this world, I will set into motion the events that will chain you_ again _when you seek to interfere with our land. When you finally break free, you will see in my descendant your mortal foe, you will recognize this face in hers, and I assure you, monster, you will have been_ long _forgotten_.

He shrieked, then. It was meant to be a roar, I was sure, but he was so far past the point of sanity that even his bellows had become insensate. I descended into serenity once more, keeping half an eye on Ganon to be sure he did not attempt to sabotage Link while my mind was relaxed. The sound of Link’s footsteps – albeit across the face of Hyrule and not three paces behind me – were a comfort I had missed dearly.

I didn’t realize how much I was letting the sound of Link’s footsteps lull me deeper into commune with the Goddess until they abruptly stopped. He had been running, full tilt, and then-

-nothing.

I Immediately cast my vision towards where I’d last heard him, at the very edge of the Great Plateau, to see him airborne. He’d leapt from the top. Oh, sweet Goddess, he’d _leapt._ Had he despaired? My father’s spirit was missing from the Plateau, I couldn’t feel his presence, had he told Link too much, too fast? Did he-

Link opened up a paraglider while I frantically searched for a means to save him, and glided serenely down to land on the road that would lead him to Kakariko. If I hadn’t kept this vigil with Ganon for the past century, I might have been jarred right out of my Serenity. Link turned to look up at the wall from where he’d just leapt, and his face split with the most mischievous, _impish_ grin I had ever seen on him. He did this little hop-step, kissed the paraglider, and then broke into a run, following the road east.

I couldn’t watch him run into Necluda, through that bloody field. I just couldn’t. And, honestly, I was rather put out with him for scaring me so badly. I hadn’t heard him stop to _sleep_ yet, so I knew some things hadn’t changed, but I hadn’t expected him to _jump_ off the Great Plateau. And where did the glider come from, anyways?

I settled in, again, to wait. Ganon was channeling his power differently – sending it up, to build in the moon. Once enough of his Malice had collected, the moon would glow red and under its baleful eye, all the goblin folk who had been slain were returned to life. It was easy enough for me to match him; I briefly considered blocking him, but if the pig demon focused on this little offensive rather than trying to round up all his forces into an army, I was content to merely hide my own power inside his. When the moblins and bokoblins and even the hinoxes and lynels rose back up from the ground, so too did the fish Link had caught, the deer he had hunted, the herbs he had picked, the ore he had mined. Hyrule rose up to support him, Her favorite son.

Rather than draw attention to my addition and perhaps cause Ganon to do something to negate it, I instead warned Link of the blood moon every time it rose. He seemed to become aware of the changes in the world as the blood moon neared, and it was not long at all before my repeated warnings seemed unnecessary. I kept reminding him to be careful when the moon turned red, however; it was the only time I could justify reaching out to speak to him. He seemed to understand that, somehow, and would always turn to face the Castle, wherever he was, when I called out for him to be careful under the light of the blood moon.

Aside from the moons, I worked to keep my hold on Ganon. It was becoming more difficult, although I suspected that was from my sudden distraction, more so than any tangible shift in our century-old power struggle. I tried to content myself with listening to Link’s footsteps across Hyrule and only look for him when they went silent. I could not say how much time passed before a change in the void startled me to attention once more.

 ** _No_ , **the Beast howled, and I allowed myself a chuckle as I looked into what had it on edge.

A beam of red light was focused on the inner sanctum of Hyrule Castle. It was searching for _it_ , seeking out the Beast with every intention of stealing its life. And it came from the east, from-

Vah Ruta!

I cast about, searching for Link, and found him on the ground in Akkala, running north at that easy, distance-eating lope he made look so effortless. He was wearing the blue tunic of Champions that so matched his eyes, and he seemed... stronger. As if his stamina and vitality were measurably increased. As I watched, he leapt off a cliff, and _still_ my breath caught until he whipped out the paraglider and _flew_ over a series of active Guardians. Oh, but if only Revali could see him now!

He had spoken to Impa, he must have. I cast my mind towards Kakariko, eager to see my old friend, and was pleased to find her intact. Ancient, of course, but _intact_ , in mind and spirit. The painting of Link’s Fall hung on her wall, and his wearing his old tunic meant he had remembered _something_ of who he was. She wouldn’t have given it to him, otherwise.

He remembered _something_.

It was enough.

I reached out to Mipha and found her immediately. It was an immeasurable relief to find her spirit free, no longer tormented, and I felt the light touch of her mind against my own. She remained silent, though; she looked down on her people – her brother, her _father_ – and she was finally taking the time to mourn.

I had to respect that. Besides, it was important for her spirit to reserve what strength she could, as it would take a great deal of energy to control Vah Ruta as an incorporeal being. Leaving the channel for contact open, should she want it, I settled back into my reverie.

Days passed. Weeks, perhaps. It mattered not. Ganon was contained and Link’s footsteps pounded across the surface of Hyrule and everything else was simply a matter of time.

 _He can fly, now_ , I heard, just an instant before the demon I shared this space with flew into another uncontrolled rage. It was a voice I had not heard in many years, but it immediately warmed my heart.

 _I think it’s technically gliding_ , I countered.

 _Don’t make me play demon’s advocate_ , he shot back, and I laughed at the memory of those words travelling the opposite direction.

_Speaking of demons, there is quite the temper tantrum happening here. I assume Medoh is free?_

_Medoh is free, and locked in on your position, Princess_ , Revali’s spirit confirmed.

 _Conserve your strength, then_ , I counseled. _Mipha and Ruta are free, as well, and you must have the power to strike when the moment arrives_.

 _I’ve been quiet for a hundred years, Princess. You are asking an awful lot of me_.

 _I have faith in you_.

 _That’s supposed to be my line_.

I went looking for Link again, as Revali’s voice faded once more into silence, albeit far happier than the sullen tone he had once taken. I found Farore’s Chosen wandering slowly in circles, in the ruins of a settlement near to Lake Illumeni. His brow was furrowed with thought, and he kept stopping and pulling out the Sheikah Slate, studying the twelve pictures I had left him. He shook his head with each one, and I watched as his frustration mounted.

It took a moment before I realized what memory was eluding him, since I had never gone with him to Tabantha.

He was likely in the ruins of his mother’s home.

Oh, my heart, this man. He was trying so hard to remember, fighting to put the pieces together. If only I hadn’t so childishly resented him when first we met! I could have gone with him to Tabantha, met his mother, taken a picture so that he could have something to help him remember.

He set camp in the ruins that night, scowling into the fire long after the moon rose. The frown remained in place as he kicked out the fire and stalked out of the ruins the next morning; I had to assume the memory had eluded him.

The sword would give that one back to him, I was sure. Once he reclaimed the sword, it could give him reference for the ruins in Tabantha and Faron. It would likely recollect the fight with Link’s father, since I could only shudder at the memory of the outrage from the sword as Link drove it into the flagstones and challenged his father to draw it.

Would it know to limit the memories to just Link’s? Would it know to not flood him with the images of all the lifetimes he’d led? Would he draw the sword and lose his sense of self?

 _Not likely_ , Revali noted.

_What- how did you- aren’t you supposed to be conserving your strength?_

_This is more fun._

_Revali!_

_He doesn’t know where the sword that seals the darkness is, Princess. He thinks you two switched – he gave you the Sword and you gave him the Slate – and that you’re using it to battle Ganon. Rhoam said you had survived to face Ganon alone, and your boy is pretty literal_.

Well, shit. I ordered Revali back into silence, and was a bit more careful about blocking my reverie from the spirits I otherwise allowed freely into my mind.

We would be at a distinct disadvantage if he arrived at the Castle to do battle with Ganon and hadn’t gone to fetch the Master Sword from where it lay in the Great Forest. And while, yes, he had entrusted me with the sword, _he had told me to put it back!_ I’d done exactly what he – and the sword, to be fair – had asked me to do.

He just needed to remember it.

He needed to remember his fall, and telling me to take the sword back to the Great Deku tree. Or, failing that, Impa needed to tell him. _Somebody_ needed to tell him to go get the damn sword. If I did, everything between him and the Lost Woods would be turned into the Land of a Thousand Monsters by pig face the smoke demon.

The smoke surrounding me cleared, suddenly, thinning away to allow in a bit of light for the first time since I had been swallowed. I could see the Sanctum through the haze, see the black sac hanging from the ceiling that was the confinement I had crafted for Ganon and I. I shuddered and allowed myself to feel grateful that my form was as smoky as the Calamity’s, and I was not physically stewing in his filth.

I cast about, to try to find the cause, and saw Link atop Mount Lanayru. The form of the Great Dragon Naydra was shaking off the last remnants of Malice that had bound him. I felt a brief surge of regret, that my imprisonment had been reflected upon the spiritual protector of the Spring of Wisdom, but I supposed there was ultimately little else I could have done. Naydra was free, now, and Link was-

-shooting it in the face with his bow?

A scale fell off the Great Dragon, landing in the Spring, and as Naydra bellowed and shot into the sky, Link scooped up the scale and offered it to the statue of the Goddess Hylia in the spring.

She _thanked him_ and then revealed a secret entrance behind the Spring that led to another Shrine.

I didn’t know whether to be outraged or-

-no, no, outrage was perfect, actually. Outrage that he had _shot the dragon_ , as well as outrage that the _statue had spoken to him_ , and that there was a _Shrine hidden in the Spring_ , and that _Hylia had encouraged him to shoot Naydra_. There was just so much wrong in this entire scenario.

And, as I watched, Link got this gleam in his eye, and then spent the next week of his life hunting the other two dragons, shooting scales off them, and travelling to the Springs of Courage and Power.

I had to admit, it was rather incredible to watch him leap off the tower above Lake Hylia or the Tabantha bridge and catch an updrift from one of the Great Dragons. He soared along side it, and then _snapped shut his glider_ to draw his bow and fire, lightning quick, while in free fall. He whipped out the glider again and the impact of the sail with the wind looked to nearly jerk his shoulders out of socket, but he merely drifted down to where the glowing shard of the dragon had landed, scooped it up, and then went on the prowl for one of the others.

I didn’t want to know what he was doing with dragon scales, I really didn’t.

I settled back into serenity, content to wait.

 _You tell that swine that I’m coming for him_ , Urbosa’s voice said to drag me out of my trance, some unknowable time later.

The swine in question launched into a rage that was more properly called hysterics, as a third beam shot into Hyrule’s Sanctum from the southwest. The air darkened around me, but with Naydra free it cleared once Ganon had expended some of his power. The three beams of red energy were moving slightly, casting around the inside of the Sanctum, searching for something solid to lock onto.

 _I will pass that along once he’s finished his tantrum_ , I replied.

Urbosa laughed, and _oh_ it had been so long since I’d heard that sound. It was like the world was coming back together, piece by piece. It was impossible not to take hope from it.

 _Your Champion still makes a pretty little vai_ , she added, and I immediately cast my eye towards the Gerudo desert.

He was in Gerudo Town! In... in... in _women’s clothing_. Having a chat with the Gerudo chieftain! Oh, if I hadn’t seen it for myself I never would have believed it.

I watched, fascinated, as he made his way around town. He shopped in the marketplace, whispered a password at a door in an alley to get into a black market shop, and sashayed around town like he belonged there! His _footsteps_ sounded differently, as he changed the way he walked to better sell the deception. Unbelievable.

And, oh, if so many of them didn’t see right through it and _not care_. He was called out constantly, and with a shrug and a laugh, they let him go. The chieftain knew! Her bodyguard knew! _Oh_ that man was _infuriating_.

 _He’s starting to remember_ , Urbosa assured me. _He remembers saving you at the Oasis, and my waking you up in Naboris the night before._

I couldn’t think of any suitable reply. He was obeying my final command – to free the divine beasts and the souls of our four friends trapped within – and anything beyond bringing the Master Sword to fight Ganon was more than I could ask for.  But the idea that the person who finally came to free me might be _my_ Link, and not merely the shell of him without the person inside? It was a hope I hadn’t been willing to entertain.

 _More importantly, he_ wants _to remember_ , Urbosa pressed. _There are things he is certain that he used to know, places where he knows he has been before, and it infuriates him that he can’t remember. I should say, though, that even without remembering, he acts almost the same_.

 _Almost?_ I asked, desperate for the information and not caring if Urbosa knew.

 _He’s more... open. He doesn’t remember the losses that made him close off. He shows pain and exhaustion and weariness on his face; like he left the mask behind when he woke up_.

 _That... that doesn’t sound like a bad thing_ , I managed.

 _I don’t think you’ll mind, no_.

 _You need to conserve your strength_ , I reminded her, and I got the image of her waving me off before she did as I bid her.

It became more and more difficult to maintain the level of serenity necessary to keep Ganon trapped in the Castle. Time seemed to slow down, until each day was a battle to keep my mind focused on the golden power that kept the Calamity at bay. It wasn’t hard to figure out why.

He was coming. The threat I had thrown into Ganon’s face on the day Link awoke was coming closer to being fulfilled with every passing moment: Link was freeing the Divine Beasts, growing in strength, and soon he would come to slay the Beast and free Hyrule from the Calamity.

...and me. He was recovering his memories, and I couldn’t help but hope that it wasn’t just Hyrule he was working so hard to save.

 _The little guy pulled through_! Daruk’s cheer startled me so badly I actually lost focus for a moment. The brief blast of heat from the flame and rage that was the Calamity Ganon seared my face before I collected myself and regained control of my connection to the Goddess. I calmed my heart rate and sunk once more into serenity.

 _I am glad you are free_ , I answered the exuberant Goron.

_Something about being able to take on lynels?_

_Wait, what?_

_He was on the southern slopes and remembered fighting lynels there. Apparently there’s some rhythm to their attacks he had known before and just got back. Little guy’s got spunk! Got Rudania straightened all out._

Oh no. What if all these things he was remembering were just the bare essentials? He remembered saving me at the Oasis, but just the part about fighting Yiga? He remembered the fight to take the high ground so I could get a good vantage for Robbie’s research, but he only remembered how to battle lynels and not the wound he took, the way he pressed his face into my hand?

No. No, I couldn’t be upset about this, he _needed to remember how to fight_. The timing of lynels’ attacks and the weaknesses of the Yiga and that lightning-quick bow release... _that_ was what we needed him to remember.

Not me. Goddess save me, we didn’t _need_ him to remember me. We just needed him to save Hyrule.

Oh, Goddess, please.

 _I hope he remembers he got his arm slashed open by those lynels,_ I countered gently.

 _He was rubbing that scar on his arm, so yeah_ , Daruk shot right back. _He’s never given anybody a reason not to believe in him. Not even Revali_.

 _I reserve the right to respectfully disagree_ , Revali’s spirit countered.

 _Oh, I am_ so _happy your spirits are all free, but could you not immediately start arguing again? I’m still rather busy keeping the Calamity contained_.

I felt them carefully shut me out of their conversation, although since they were using me as their medium, the banter still swirled just on the edge of my consciousness. I really couldn’t fault them; they’d been trapped for a century, and none of them had gotten any closure. This sort of playful contention was a wonderful change of pace from one hundred years of torment and solitude.

Just... mine wasn’t over yet.

With all four Divine Beasts free, I concentrated briefly on Link, to check his progress.

...to find him practically beside us. He was standing just outside the Castle, in the precise place he had knelt when I had muddled through the formal blessing of him as chosen of the sword and my appointed knight. His head was cocked slightly to the side, and his eyes were unfocused on the present.

He was remembering.

He was remembering me at my absolute least gracious.

He was remembering the snide remarks of our friends as they stood and watched me muck up the blessing.

Oh, he was remembering the worst thing _possible_.

He shook his head, giving in to a quick full-body shiver as he seemed to come back to himself. He had my Sheikah Slate in his hand, and he smiled at it fondly as he slid it back into its holster on his belt. He looked up at the Castle – at me! – and smiled a bit broader. Then he nodded and started forward once more.

Towards the Castle.

Without the sword.

 _Oh no, oh no, oh no_ -

 _What?_ Mipha’s voice broke in. _What is it, what’s wrong?_

_He’s coming here! Without the sword! He’s-_

As Link crossed the moat to stand beside the Castle proper, the Calamity’s smoky form reared up, roaring a challenge. In the air outside it sounded like just noise, but here, inside the fiery maelstrom that was the void we shared, it was a thunderous, gloating glee.

**_He bears not the sword! I will destroy him, I will crush your spirit, and I will at last be free of this prison!_ **

The Calamity withdrew, collecting his malice around me, stifling me, nearly suffocating me. I abandoned all thoughts but the line of connection to Hylia. _Even though I may fail, still I will persevere. If it is possible to annihilate Ganon without the sword, then Link is the one to do it. It is the Courage within him that makes him Farore’s Chosen, and that Courage will see us both through this. I need only have faith in him. I will never lose faith in him._

Link’s footsteps within the Castle echoed within the void, jarring me as I persevered through my returned blindness. I refused to _look_ for him, and perhaps give the Calamity information to use against him. I merely listened, opening wide my connection to Hyrule through Hylia and relying on my memory of the Castle’s layout.

He was climbing the walls, rather than taking a direct route, my clever man. He seemed to be combing every inch of the lower levels, and avoiding any route that might draw him closer to the Sanctum. Did he remember walking these halls, a century ago? Was he looking for the sword as he ransacked the guard’s quarters, the lockup, the lower levels?

He scaled the wall beneath my tower, and I longed to see through his eyes. Was anything left as last he or I had seen it? What walls remained? I felt him pause between my study and my bedroom, and immediately I wondered if he had come all this way, risked so much, for the image left in the Slate of that walkway.

It might have been an eternity, or only minutes; one moment Ganon was smothering me within our prison, and the next he was reaching out, searching, seeking. I quickly tightened the tether that kept the Calamity within the Sanctum of the Castle, but it proved unnecessary – he was yet bound, and Link was gone.

He had just come for the memory.

My heart stuttered a moment and I fought, tooth and nail, to keep focused. _Oh_ he was trying so hard to remember. Once I was assured the Calamity was yet bound, and my own serenity intact, I allowed myself a quick glance at Link.

It was raining on Fort Hateno, and he was on his knees in the mud, facing a pile of dead Guardians, eyes wide and mouth agape in horror. Impa must have explained to him the painting. She must have decided he was ready.

He stood up, woodenly, closing his eyes as he turned his head as if trying to look away.

He’d just remembered his own death, after all.

 _Link_ ¸ I called out to him. _Link, you have recovered all of your memories of us from one hundred years ago. I am here... inside Hyrule Castle. It is now time for you to defeat Ganon._

He turned as I spoke, and I could almost feel his eyes on me, though hills and trees and Malice and stone and mortar built a barrier between us. His hands clenched into fists, and he shook his head, _no_.

And as I watched, he started to run.

I focused once more on Ganon, as the ability to stay calm and passive drifted ever further away. It was a constant battle, now; I could not be content to merely wait for a better future when it was so very close to _now_. I restricted myself to only listening to Link’s footsteps across the surface of Hyrule.

He went first to Kakariko, and spent a bit of time with Impa. He seemed to sleep, as well, which was very bad for my state of mind, since that seemed like a final sort of preparation for him – a full night’s slumber was something he had partaken of only a handful of times since his rising from his nap of a hundred years.

Then, he ran west, keeping north of the Castle-

-straight into the Great Hyrule Forest. He got lost once, his footsteps disappearing into a haze and then reemerging at the entrance to the wood. The second time, however, he charged directly to the Deku Tree.

 _Master returns!_ The countless voices of the sword cried out, joyous, and then I felt their song directed away from me. A blinding beam of light flashed out from the Forest, and then I felt Link’s knees collide with the ground.

_Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look – oh, for fuck’s sake-_

He had both hands wrapped around the hilt, the tip of the blade extending behind him, as he bent his head over the Master Sword. The memories I had gotten from the sword had always been of Farore’s Chosen lifting the blade over his head, so this struck me momentarily as odd.

...until I happened to get a glimpse of Link’s face, as he gently rocked back and forth, distraught.

His eyes were whipping to and fro, his face almost contorted by the different emotions spawned by the _months_ of memory the Master Sword was bringing back to light.

He wouldn’t get anything from the sword from before he drew it the first time. But he would have everything since.

He would have every moment of every day with me.

My serenity shivered, hovering on the brink of complete collapse.

 _Oh, sweet Goddess, let me hold on just a bit longer_.

I forcefully pulled my attention away from Link, bearing down on Ganon’s tether. I had to maintain this for just a little while longer. Just a little while. Link was still so far away (just across the moat) and he might have many more things to do (he was gliding silently across the water) and it might take him days to clear the Castle (he was just here, and there hasn’t been a blood moon since he stood on my walkway) and _I just had to hold on_.

But then, oh sweet Goddess, he was standing in the Sanctum. The Master Sword gleamed brightly, both in greeting to its ally and recognition of its enemy. He wore the Champion’s Tunic still, although it was not as I remembered – it seemed reinforced, and it glistened with an almost metallic sheen that I just couldn’t place. He was wearing a _hood_ , though, and so his face remained in shadow.

I did not need his face to know it was him. I had known him in the full darkness of the void, by his footsteps alone. In the Sanctum, his heart beat was almost palpable, his footsteps explosions of thunder, and his voice-

“Zelda,” he called, and my grasp on Ganon’s tether failed.

 _Link!_ Ganon did not immediately notice my faltering, as the voice in the Sanctum had drawn his attention like a moth to flame. _I’m sorry, but my power isn’t strong enough. I can’t hold him_.

 ** _Freedom at last_** , Malice hissed within the void.

I could not hold him – but if I was to finally lose this battle, I would make sure he did, too. I pooled what energy I had left and I forced him to coalesce into a material being.

 ** _Fool_** , he howled into my mind. **_It matters not what form I take when I destroy you_**.

He cut through what was left of my bindings, but the creature that emerged was not the maelstrom of rage and fire that had swallowed me a century before. This was the arachnoid form of a pig demon; glistening with foulness and dripping venom. I recoiled from the vileness of him, holding on to my commune with the Goddess just enough to not solidify completely and begin to drown in his filth.

The weight of him collapsed the floor, and we tumbled into the hidden vault deep below the Sanctum that once contained the throne room. Link floated down serenely with his glider, and the complete lack of concern on his face sent my mind back a hundred years. I remembered him standing on the cliff above Kakariko, laughing with Impa, finding peace at his fate having arrived at last. I had loved him in that moment – desperately, hopelessly, with the finality that only comes from accepting one’s destiny.

Link touched down as the Calamity gathered itself from the floor. As the demon straightened and roared his challenge at Farore’s Champion, my Link – my Hero – twisted his head from side to side, loosening the muscles in his neck and shoulders. He gave a little hop-step and then drew the Master Sword with a flourish. He settled a shield onto his opposite arm – a Hylian shield to replace the one lost at Fort Hateno – and then held up one finger, bidding Ganon to wait.

As Ganon roared defiance at the disrespectful gesture, the voices of the spirits who had kept me company all these long years suddenly all called out at once.

_Finally! My moment has come! Brace yourself, Ganon, for the sting of my revenge!_

_This will be our final opportunity. We will not fail!_

_Let’s go, little guy! Now – open up wide, Ganon!_

_A hundred years in the making. Hold on, Princess. Our moment has arrived!_

Four beams of ancient, arcane energy shot into the Castle from the Divine Beasts perched at the far ends of the realm. Medoh, Ruta, Rudania, and Naboris channeled the energy surging out of the earth from the hundred-plus Shrines and Towers Link had tirelessly brought back to life in the intervening months since his own awakening. The brilliant blue light filled the Sanctum and then descended, searching for the enemy it had been created to smite.

Hyrule, itself, was being tapped to smite the demon who sought to destroy Her. Within me, I could feel the essence of Hylia glow with approval.

Ganon was staggered, and bloodied, and decidedly damaged – but he was far from beaten. He flourished his sword of fire and roared another challenge at Link.

My Hero grinned, and tipped his chin up in a nonchalant challenge.

_Oh, he’s going to beat the shit out of you. I don’t even have to help. I can just sit in here and watch it happen._

**_Silence!_** The word was an indecipherable mess of spittle and rage outside of his mind, and Link responded by extending the Master Sword sharply to his side, parallel to the floor. It flared to life, and in a voice only the Beast and I could hear, began to call for the demon’s blood, a crystalline song of wordless valor.

Link was in the best form of his life. He danced away from the flames Ganon spewed at him, and the more condensed fire attacks were countered with seemingly casual arrows of ice fired from a bow that looked like it was made of the same material as the Guardians. One of Robbie’s creations, perhaps?

Whenever Ganon was foolish enough to let Link draw near, the Master Sword cut into him deeply, severing limbs and leaving great rents in the demon’s vile carapace that could not be sealed, no matter how desperately Ganon tried directing his energy towards healing himself.

It was no time at all before he lacked the force to even keep his ponderous body moving, and slumped to the floor of the vault.

 ** _No. No, this must not be. I will rain fire and ruin upon this withered husk of land._** He abandoned his material form in an explosion of filth and rage, and swirled out of the Vault, out of the Sanctum, and out into Hyrule, untethered from the Castle at last.

 _Light, Beloved!_ A voice pierced my mind. It was the voice from the Spring of Wisdom, the voice of the woman I had been unable to hear in my dream, the voice that had whispered at the edge of my consciousness for all these years. _You must bring the Light!_

Link! I reached down as my ethereal form was carried by Ganon out of the Castle, casting forth the golden power that flowed through me, and rendered Link’s form into the pure Light that was the core of his being, that made him instantly recognizable to the sword. I pulled him along in our wake, bringing him to fight Ganon wherever the pig demon may flee to.

 _He is the Light, but he cannot cast himself wholly at the Beast_ , the crystalline voice instructed. _You must give him the means to cast his Light at the Beast, create a form he will be able to wield_.

I wasn’t sure if She planted the image in my head or if I immediately followed Her thoughts, but She meant arrows. She meant a bow that would cast arrows of pure Light at the darkness.

There was a horse upon the Field as we emerged out of the Castle, to battle the Calamity beneath a blood streaked sky. The horse was saddled and clearly frightened, and I wondered if Link had left it there, or if it had followed, or if some other inexplicable force had summoned it knowing the future need. I directed Link’s form to coalesce again right next to the steed, and it immediately pushed its face into his chest.

”There, there,” my Hero murmured. “There’s a brave girl. Be brave a moment longer?”

She shook herself and shifted, and Link mounted up, encouraging her to chase after the churning fire that rolled across the Field.

 _Ganon was born out of a dark past_ , I told him, the words appearing in my mind. I had to believe they were being given to me by Hylia. _He is a pure embodiment of the ancient evil that is reborn time and time again. He has given up on reincarnation and assumed his pure, enraged form. If set free upon our world, the destruction will be unlike anything ever seen before._

The creature once known as Ganon spun, sensing it was being chased by the Hero, and took form. He was every ounce a pig demon, giant in scale and formed of Malice and flame. Link had his Sword in hand, but seemed unsure how best to press the attack. Even if he leaped from horseback, he could reach nothing above the Beast’s knees.

 _I entrust you with the Bow of Light – a powerful weapon in the face of evil_. I followed Hylia’s instruction in my mind, and let the golden power take physical form, directing it into the arms of a bow to match the size and draw of the one Link was currently using. One less thing for him to have to account for, and who knew how many draws of bow he’d practiced with since waking up...

 _Link_. There was too much to say! I had his undivided attention, he _knew_ it was me speaking these words into his mind, and I had mourned for a hundred years all the things I hadn’t said, hadn’t asked – all the things I had put aside, believing there would be time later.

Wasn’t that time about to arrive? And yet, hadn’t I thought that before, and been devastated when I was wrong?

Faith. I must have faith. He had come this far...

_You may not yet be at a point where you have fully recovered your power or all of your memories... but courage need not be remembered, for it is never forgotten._

He raised his sword in a silent salute towards the bow I had created for him, nodding once to acknowledge my words, and then sheathed his weapon as he kicked his horse into motion once more. He leaned down low off the saddle as the horse galloped towards the towering pig demon in the Field, and scooped up the Bow of Light on the way past.

 _Again I remind you – this is all your fault_ , I whispered to the Beast, whom I yet resided within. _When you rage alone against the void for the next ten thousand years, remember this: you brought this upon yourself_.

As the Beast raged, I focused what was left of the golden power into gleaming runes on the creature’s flanks, luminous words in the ancient language that needed only to be energized by the Light to build the prison around the Beast once more. Link followed my lead around the flaming creature, constantly calling encouragement to his clearly-terrified horse as he wove between the Beast’s legs and methodically lit up every target I gave him. Soon, there was only one left, but it was deep within the monster, and I lacked the perspective to determine how it could even be struck. The Beast was locked into place, the runes along its body already crippling its demonic form.

I watched as Link swung off the horse, slapping its withers to send it racing off to safety. He walked up to the front of the Beast, face to face, and waited.

The Calamity roared, spitting flames upon the ground. The superheated air exploded upwards, and Link leapt into it, unfurling the sail of his glider to shoot into the sky on the updraft. He released the glider, drew the bow, and in a motion too fast for even my divinely-assisted eyes to follow, whipped a series of arrows into the Beast’s one glowing eye.

The Light shot into the center of the Beast, piercing its twisted soul and causing the runes to sharply align into the finished form of the prison to seal away the darkness within.

As the Beast raged against the Light, I was – finally, after a century – ejected from my prison within its nebulous form. Link was still airborne, and the force expanding out from Ganon’s death throes sent him careening through the sky. I reached out and stopped his tumble, setting him down on his feet in the Field even as I landed and took my own form for the first time in a century.

_Sweet Goddess, Blessed Hylia, Defender of Hyrule, I bid you assist me in this, my final act as your avatar upon this world._

Her warmth buffeted me, and I felt the power surge beneath my skin. The massive form of Ganon collapsed to the ground before me, helpless at my feet.

_Great Goddesses, creators of all, I beseech You. Farore, Your Champion has overcome near death and a hundred years of slumber to attain this moment, to free the Chosen of Nayru from my battle with the Beast, which has carried both of us far past our mortal years. We seek to defend the Sacred Power of Your Sister Din from the Usurper who seeks but one third of the Triforce, and cannot possibly understand the importance of the Power of the Goddesses wielded intact. Please, assist me in this moment, as I banish Malice from our plane._

**_No_** , the Beast wailed, as it thrashed upon the scorched soil of the once-great Hyrule Field. **_No, I will not abide it. YOU WILL NOT_**. He thrust up from the land, desperate to escape his fate, reclaiming the smoky form of Malice and fire that he had assumed for the prior century.

 _By Our Will Is It Done_ , the infinite crystalline voices of the Great Goddesses chimed, filling my consciousness with golden light. _By Our Defender, Hylia, Shall It Be Done. So Mote It Be_.

My hand lifted up, no longer within my own power, and the sacred power of the Triforce burst forth, expanding outward in a sphere of pure Light, connecting with the empowered runes etched along the exposed soul of Ganon to form a prison strong enough to bind even Malice, for a time. Then the golden light collapsed into a pinpoint of pure energy, before vanishing from sight.

As the spirit of Malice was banished into the void, the golden power that had suffused and sustained me for a century drained away.

The blood red sky slowly cleared, as the energy of the Calamity waned.

Hylia’s presence swelled for the space of one heartbeat – pride, endless pride, and love beyond the bounds of mortal understanding – and then She, too, receded into Slumber.

As a new day dawned over a misty Hyrule Field, I was merely Zelda, once more.

But it had always been Zelda who recognized the sound of Link’s footsteps, and that was not knowledge I had lost, in the many long years since I had last heard them with my own ears. He approached from behind me, tentative but hale.

“I’ve been keeping watch over you all this time,” I told him, cognizant of the years it had been since last my voice had been used. “I’ve witnessed your struggles to return to us, as well as your trials in battle.”

He stopped, three paces behind, and my heart leapt into my throat. When I turned around, would I see him? _My_ Link, the Link I had loved and lost all those years ago? Or would my eyes meet those of a stranger?

“I always thought... no. I always _believed_ that you would find a way to defeat Ganon. I never lost faith in you over these many years.”

I steeled my heart and turned around, although my eyes were yet cast downward. Was it possible to die of hope?

“Thank you, Link... the Hero of Hyrule.”

Our eyes met, as I spoke the pronouncement I should have made a hundred years before, when he was first appointed my knight.

His expression was completely blank.

How typical.

“May I ask... do you really remember me?”


End file.
